Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum - Medium Gauge - want to try a set?

[AH Acoustic]

Hi everyone --

I tried the Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum strings a couple of times on a guitar, and they weren't quite a fit. The tone was lovely -- I found them to be very mellow, however projection was not pronounced, almost too quiet for my style of play. I play bare flesh finger style, and was finding I had to attack with much more energy to hear the notes distinctly.

If I played with a flat pick, or finger picks, or nails, I suspect I would be keeping these and buying more -- but, alas, such is not the case.

And yes, I installed these round core strings correctly, and my experience included the plain strings also.

So -- as I tend to buy a few sets of strings at a time to reduce shipping costs in case I like a string, I have (2) sets available.

If you have not tried these on your guitar yet, and would like to, message me, as a courtesy to those of you who haven't taken the plunge yet to try these out for yourselves.

(1) set per member.

Please, if you use these strings currently, please chime in to characterize the tone, however the intent is to reduce the cost to others who have not ever used the Plectrums on their guitar.

Not really a contest, however it would be nice to hear a story and description of the guitar you intend to try them on.

Let me know!

-a.h.

[justonwo]

I think this is more of a classified ad.

[AH Acoustic]

Originally Posted by justonwo

I think this is more of a classified ad.

I have revised to free, thank you, and moved.

-a.h.

[Jamolay]

That is a nice offer! I would be interested, although I have settled on Straight Up Strings Mediums as my go to and am unlikely to spend for these in the future, even if I like them. It is the cost that has prevented me from testing them. Not that I couldn’t, but I don’t see myself getting to a place where I need such strings.

Anyway, I am curious and play a Larrivee OM-2. I prefer lower tension strings as I am also playing classical. Beginner style is my forte, hoping to someday at least resemble finger style playing.

[A.Wilder1]

I’m curious, did you have to recut the guitar nut to accommodate the gauge of these strings?

[Jamolay]

Originally Posted by A.Wilder1

I’m curious, did you have to recut the guitar nut to accommodate the gauge of these strings?

No. 12s were fine. I even tried 13s and they worked as well.

[A.Wilder1]

Originally Posted by Jamolay

No. 12s were fine. I even tried 13s and they worked as well.

Interesting… I would have thought that low E (.59) wouldn’t seat well in a nut cut for .54 or .53s.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by AH Acoustic

I tried the Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum strings a couple of times on a guitar, and they weren't quite a fit. The tone was lovely -- I found them to be very mellow, however projection was not pronounced, almost too quiet for my style of play. I play bare flesh finger style, and was finding I had to attack with much more energy to hear the notes distinctly.

If I played with a flat pick, or finger picks, or nails, I suspect I would be keeping these and buying more -- but, alas, such is not the case.

And yes, I installed these round core strings correctly, and my experience included the plain strings also.

I use these (AC112) on my archtop, the lighter AC111 on my jumbo and can ensure that the plain strings are just that. They're made to metric measurements so their gauge is slightly different from strings made to imperial measurements but you shouldn't notice that in terms of sound. Idem for the brass coating: that'll wear off pretty quickly anyway, exposing a standard tin-plated string.

@AH : you may have better luck with the TI Spectrums which I don't think have a silk-and-steel design and are all round-wound; their wrap wire is phosphor-bronze but apparently a slightly different alloy because yellower (the sound is more like brass-wound strings, too).

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by RJVB

I use these (AC112) on my archtop, the lighter AC111 on my jumbo and can ensure that the plain strings are just that. They're made to metric measurements so their gauge is slightly different from strings made to imperial measurements but you shouldn't notice that in terms of sound. Idem for the brass coating: that'll wear off pretty quickly anyway, exposing a standard tin-plated string.

@AH : you may have better luck with the TI Spectrums which I don't think have a silk-and-steel design and are all round-wound; their wrap wire is phosphor-bronze but apparently a slightly different alloy because yellower (the sound is more like brass-wound strings, too).

I've tried the Plectrums but was a bit underwhelmed, but that could have been on the guitar I tried them on. I've found that all strings with silk in them are a bit quieter, and that does not compliment a quieter guitar- whether GHS, John Pearse, or La Bella (although La Bella were the loudest).

I've been wondering about the Spectrums but your comment above that there is no silk goes against their own packaging, and their packaging does not indicate the plain steel strings are bronze flashed either. I'm just confused?

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I've been wondering about the Spectrums but your comment above that there is no silk goes against their own packaging, and their packaging does not indicate the plain steel strings are bronze flashed either. I'm just confused?

You're right about there being silk - I slipped up there. However there can be brass-coated trebles:
https://www.thomastik-infeld.com/en/...pectrum-bronze

I don't remember what was in the set I tried.

I'm a bit surprised that you found LaBella sillk-and-steels to be the loudest. In my experience they're closest to classical strings, and really low tension.
IMHO the silk doesn't really reduce the sheer volume these strings can produce (comparing strings with equal mass/tension of course), just the capacity to cut through the mix because the sound is less strident.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by RJVB

You're right about there being silk - I slipped up there. However there can be brass-coated trebles:
https://www.thomastik-infeld.com/en/...pectrum-bronze

I don't remember what was in the set I tried.

I'm a bit surprised that you found LaBella sillk-and-steels to be the loudest. In my experience they're closest to classical strings, and really low tension.
IMHO the silk doesn't really reduce the sheer volume these strings can produce (comparing strings with equal mass/tension of course), just the capacity to cut through the mix because the sound is less strident.

Hmm, I'm not adverse to the silk varieties because I like the tone and feel for fingerstyle, so I may try a set of Spectrums if nothing else but to then have officially tried them all. Your comments about them having no silk was not the first time I've heard that on AGF so I've been reluctant to drop the cash (and worried about the inherent drop in projection- perceived or otherwise).

Could be just my ears but the La Bellas are the loudest. I've used the 710L and the 710M sets and found this to be true. I have a set of Medium Plectrums to try on my other carbon guitar so maybe I'll purchase Spectrums too to try them back-to-back.

Did you find the tensions between Plectrum and Spectrum to be about the same?

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Your comments about them having no silk was not the first time I've heard that on AGF

It's possible that I did too and remembered that over the actual product description. It's also possible that there's a bit less silk so the effect is less.
What I can say is that they're the best phosphor-bronze steel strings I've tried, that is, the ones I disliked least on my Seagull. I associate that with supposed "unique bronze formulation" with its more golden colour. I haven't yet decided if and when I'm going to try them on my archtop...

Did you try the Earthwood Silk & Steel? I find those very similar to the Plectrums, but a bit brighter overall (thanks to their hex core?). In fact, my Seagull currently has an Earthwood G string on of a gauge matching the one from the AC111 set (19 I think) and that's actually a good fit. Its round winding and hex core make a better transition from the flat-wound D to the plain B string.

Did you find the tensions between Plectrum and Spectrum to be about the same?

No. I got the SB111 set and if you just look at the gauges of the wound strings they're all higher than the gauges in the AC111 set and I remember feeling that (and hearing it from the guitar sound). The situation is a bit more complex with the AC112 vs. the SB112 as the former has a huge low E so we'd have to compare the actual tensions.

Now if you want to try something really different where the nylon is over instead of under the metal wrap you could try the Pyramid Black Tape Nylon set, or the equivalent LaBella Jazz Tapes

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by RJVB

It's possible that I did too and remembered that over the actual product description. It's also possible that there's a bit less silk so the effect is less.

What I can say is that they're the best phosphor-bronze steel strings I've tried, that is, the ones I disliked least on my Seagull. I associate that with supposed "unique bronze formulation" with its more golden colour. I haven't yet decided if and when I'm going to try them on my archtop...



Did you try the Earthwood Silk & Steel? I find those very similar to the Plectrums, but a bit brighter overall (thanks to their hex core?). In fact, my Seagull currently has an Earthwood G string on of a gauge matching the one from the AC111 set (19 I think) and that's actually a good fit. Its round winding and hex core make a better transition from the flat-wound D to the plain B string.







No. I got the SB111 set and if you just look at the gauges of the wound strings they're all higher than the gauges in the AC111 set and I remember feeling that (and hearing it from the guitar sound). The situation is a bit more complex with the AC112 vs. the SB112 as the former has a huge low E so we'd have to compare the actual tensions.



Now if you want to try something really different where the nylon is over instead of under the metal wrap you could try the Pyramid Black Tape Nylon set, or the equivalent LaBella Jazz Tapes

Huh? Pyramid Black Tape for bass guitar? Am I missing something?? Thanks for the suggestion, but the La Bella Jazz Tapes are not suitable for short scale guitars which is all I own and will ever own going forward.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Huh? Pyramid Black Tape for bass guitar? Am I missing something??

They make a version for (electric) guitar too. Very strange strings, you'd expect them to be very slack (the nylon tape is quite thick but can't have much mass compared to the steel core and inner nickel wrap) but they are in fact tauter than the AC112 strings. Except for the low E.
The sound was very nice on my archtop (which has a <25" scale) but tension was too high in the end and intonation a bit too quirky.

I'll admit I was speaking a bit in zest suggesting these (but they are interesting!)

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by RJVB

No. I got the SB111 set and if you just look at the gauges of the wound strings they're all higher than the gauges in the AC111 set and I remember feeling that (and hearing it from the guitar sound). The situation is a bit more complex with the AC112 vs. the SB112 as the former has a huge low E so we'd have to compare the actual tensions.

These sets have a handy set of tables listing all specs of all weight variants. Turns out the Plectrum SB111 has considerably higher tensions than the Spectrum AC111 for the G, D, A strings; these are almost in the same league as their counterpart in the Spectrum 12s. But if you compare the 12s of both types, the Spectrums have a higher tension in fact. Even the Spectrum AC024 (G string) has a higher tension than the SB024 G string. Makes me wonder if the Spectrums could have a higher gauge core wire...